Samuel Fanous

Christina's vita, or biography, is perhaps one of the most compelling accounts which we have of a twelfth century European woman. The anonymous author, probably a monk at St Albans, seems to have known Christina personally, which gives the text a very vivid quality—there are few of the common tropes of vitae here, but rather lots of distinctive anecdotes like the time Christina heard Jesus' voice telling her to give away the abbot's underpants to the poor, or the time she spent hours hanging from a nail in order to avoid her pursuers. Yup.

The Oxford World's Classics edition gives a lucid, clear translation, with a nice introduction and ample endnotes (though I wish, as ever, that they had been footnotes). Very well suited to use in an undergrad course.… (más)